Display device



Feb. 18, 1936.- R, AVA T 2,031,409

bIsPLAY DEVICE Filed Feb. 23, 1955 I IN VENT OR W ATTORNEYS Patented Feb. 18, I936 PATENT OFFICE nrsrnsr DEVICE Raflaele Fioravantl, Milan, Italy, .as'signor, by memo assignments, to Biolite, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application February 23, 1935, Serial No. 7,758

In Luxemburg August 20, 1934 Claims. (Cl. 40-430) Thisinvention relates to display devices and more specifically to illuminated signs.

In general, it is an object 01' the invention to provide a device of the character described, which 5 will efliciently perform the purposes for which it is intended, which issimple and economical of construction, which can be expeditiously, conveniently and safely manipulated, and which can be readily manufactured and assembled.

Another object of the invention is to provide a a transparent. sign having moving liquid and gas elements therein; to provide such a sign wherein those gas elements all pass constantly toward the end .oia closed tube; to provide'such a sign which is. illuminated and energized from Y the same source; and toprovide such a sign having a plurality of similar units, all being in part above room temperature. I

Another object is to provide a transparent sign having a lower passageway which does not tend to become clogged when a powdery solid is present, and in which the'dye solution does not fade.

Other objectsof the invention will in part be obvious and will in part appear hereinafter.

The invention accordingly comprises an article of manufacture possessing the features, propertiesand' the relation of elements which will be exemplifled in the article hereinafter described and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the claims.

For a fuller understanding of the nature and objects of the invention reference should be had to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in

as hic Fig.v 1 is a front view in elevation and with a part broken away of a device embodying one form of the invention; H Fig. 2 is an end-view in elevation and partly 40 in section of the device shown in Fig. 1; and

' Fig, 3 is an .end view in elevation, partly in section andpartly diagrammatic of a modification of the deviceshown in Fig. 2.

e invention ..contemplates a display device mounted preferably in a casing and having an exposed translucent'part in which a liquid may be seen to bubble. Heat is supplied to give the energy requirediby the bubbling and light may be supplied to illuminate the liquid and the bubbias. The translucent part is in the form of an element such as a letter, a numeral, a sign, an emblem or a design or any combination thereof. The term "translucent" is intended to embrace a the term "transparent".

. u The liquid occupies but part of the space within .flculty.

the device, leaving a vapor chamber at either end thereof, and the pressure within the remainder of the space being at less than atmospheric at room temperature.

A volatile liquid such as alcohol or ether is preferably employed 5 and coloring matter may be added. Due to the special shape of the device, the liquid retains the color. In former devices the coloring material was quickly deposited on the heated walls, and the liquid faded to a colorless condition. The 10 bubbling is attained by heating the lower end of the device whereby, as described below, a part of the liquid is gasified and passes through the remainder of the liquid to the top of the device when the normal room temperature causes the 15 gas to condense and fall back as a liquid toward the bottom of the device.

The devicemay also contain a granular substance which will be agitated by the bubbling and which may cause the light to be reflected with go scintillating eiiect. This substance may be powdery in form, for example, crystals of magnesium carbonate. Certain substances of this type tend to clog narrow passages, particularly in the lower part of devices wherein they may 5 tend to settle. The apparatus described below is designed to minimize or eliminate this dif- In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs.

1 and 2, the device has a hollow element III which so is, at least in part, translucent and which, in the type shown, is a letter of the alphabet. A vaporizing chamber II is provided which is at least in part below the hollow element.

A passageway l2 connects the lower part of as element In with the vaporizing chamber II and has a portion comprising the lowest point in the device. Preferably when passageway I2 is at the lowest part of the device, element In, which may be tubular or relatively tall compared to its 40 breadth from front to back, has no portions from which liquid would fail to tend to drain into passageway I2.

As shown, the passageway I2 is bent downward, the two upward arms leading to element In and 45 chamber i I, respectively, and its volume added to the volume of chamber ll, may be slightly less than the volume of element ill. 7

The volume of liquid when at operating temperature is about equal to almost the entire volume of the exposed part of element l0 plus that portion of passageway I! which opens into element It. As shown in Fig. 2. a pocket of vapor must remain in chamber H or the bubbling action will notbegin. as.

Each display unit comprising the above-described parts, may be suitably mounted, as for example, by the casing l3. Clamps H which may be slidable along a portion of the casing may detachably hold some part of each bubbling device. Preferably the transparent element i0 extends out of the casing, the chamber II and passageway I! being hidden within it. A sourse of illumination IE, not visible within the casing, supplies heat to the chamber II and, through some convenient opening, illumination for the element i0. Letters such as A, M or N may have a vaporizing chamber at the bottom of each leg.

The operation of the device is as follows:

The source of illumination I5 is lighted and communicates heat to the chamber II, in which most of the liquid has settled. Some of the liquid is also held by the passageway l2. Since the latter is in a low part of the device, the granular or crystalline material will have settled and somewhat compacted there. As the liquid in chamber I l becomes warmer it begins to vaporize and collect as a gas in the top of chamber II. The pressure of this gas as it expands, forces all of the liquid out of chamber Ii and through passageway I! up into element l0. As the liquid passes through the mutual opening between chamber I I and. passageway l2, it is slantingly directed against the bottom of the passageway I2. There is thus given a direct force which tends to sweep the granular material out of the passageway l2, When all the liquid has been forced out of chamber H and the arm of passageway 12 leading to chamber II, the gas begins to bubble past the lowest point of passageway 12 and up into chamber l0, where it becomes visible.

In certain devices where the tube i2 actually leads into and toward the bottom of chamber H which is beneath, the granular or powdery material collects on that bottom and chokes the entrance to the tube. The pressure in that case of the gas above tends to impact further the powdery material and is exerted downward while the powdery material must be lifted upward. The present invention tends to overcome this packing tendency, rather than to aggravate it.

When the bubbles of gas reach the upper vapor space in element I 0, they are relatively chilled and condense to return under gravity to passageway IZ and chamber ii, there to begin the cycle over again.

In Fig. 3 a modification is shown whereby heat is delivered to chamber II by a resistance wire independently of the source of illumination l5.

Since certain changes may be made in the above article and diiferent embodiments of the invention could be made without departing from the scope thereof, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawing shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the'generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a display device of the type described, a hollow translucent display element containing a liquid having an ornamental substance therein, 5 an upwardly extending vaporizing chamber adjacent the lower portion of said element, a passageway between said chamber and the interior of said element, and means for establishing an oscillating liquid-vapor interface in said passage- 10 way, whereby deposits of said substance may be removed from said passageway and retained in said liquid.

2. In a display device of the type described, a hollow translucent display element containing a 15 liquid having an ornamental substance therein, an upwardly extending vaporizing chamber adjacent the lower portion of said element, a passage between said chamber and the interior of said element, said passageway having a portion 2 thereof comprising the lowest point in said device, and means for establishing an oscillating liquid-vapor interface in said passageway, whereby deposits of said substance may be removed from said passageway and retained in said liquid. 25

3. In a display device of the type described, a hollow translucent display element -containing a liquid having an ornamental substance therein, an upwardly extending vaporizing chamber ad- Jacent the lower portion of said element, a passage between said chamber and the interior of said element, means for establishing a liquid column including all of said liquid, the lower end of said column being in said passageway, and means for reciprocating said column end in said passageway, whereby deposits of said substance are prevented from remaining in said passageway.

4. In a display device, a hollow translucent display element containing a liquid having an ornamental substance therein, an upwardly extending vaporizing chamber adjacent the lower portion of said element, a passageway between said chamber and the interior of said element, a heat source positioned adjacent said chamber, a liquid column supported in said element and having the lower end thereof in said passageway, said support comprising vapor pressure generated in said chamber, and means including variations in said vapor pressure for reciprocating the lower end of said column through said passageway, whereby deposits of said substance are prevented from remaining in said passageway.

5. In a bubbling display device, a hollow translucent display element, a liquid having an ornamental substance therein being contained in said element, an upper vapor chamber adjacent the top of said element, and a lower vapor chamber adjacent the bottom of said element, a passageway connecting said lower chamber with the interior of said element, said passageway comprising the lowest portion of said device, and means for maintaining said chambers at unequal temperature whereby said liquid reciprocates in the passageway and prevents substantial loss of said ornamental substance from said liquid.

RAFFAELE FIORAVANTI. 

